MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mortgage payments can be one of life’s biggest expenses, comprising 65 percent of all consumer debt, according to the Federal Reserve.
To help people better tackle this debt, Mint.com, the leading online personal finance solution, has added a home loans feature to the “Ways to Save” portion of its award-winning tool.* The feature looks through thousands of home loan options and compares them to a person’s income, debt ratio and credit worthiness – giving them a customized look at home loan options presented by multiple lenders. Using that information may help them reduce interest rates or lower monthly payments.
“Buying a home is often the biggest purchase someone makes. But the current process for securing a home loan – whether you’re buying a new home or looking to refinance an existing mortgage – is complicated, confusing and time consuming,” said Aaron Patzer, general manager and vice president of Intuit Inc.’s (Nasdaq: INTU) personal finance group and founder of Mint.com. “We’re simplifying personal finance and want to give people a clean and easy way to review options that doesn’t involve hours of research or multiple visits to various financial institutions.”
The new feature shows how various factors, such as the size of the down payment or paying points, affect the loan rate and monthly payment. It also helps the 50 percent of Mint.com users who already own a home easily determine whether refinancing makes financial sense by showing them how different loan options might help them reduce their monthly payment or cut their interest rate. Making the right switch can mean significant savings in interest expenses over the life of a mortgage.
“You shouldn’t have to be an expert to get a great loan. There’s a lot of money in the balance when financing a home and we’re giving people the tools they need to keep more of their money in their pockets,” Patzer said. “By showing where people can reduce the cost of borrowing – by shaving a few years or points from the loan – we’re educating them about the home loan process. That should help them do more with their money.”
Just as Mint’s technology brought unprecedented insight into day-to-day spending, the new home loan feature brings insight into various loan options – something that was previously known only by lenders.
To create the new feature, Mint worked with CreditSesame.com, an online company that provides bank-level analytics for loan offers to consumers. With information provided by users or otherwise available to Mint.com, the Credit Sesame analytics engine automatically and securely creates a complete financial profile – including current debts, loans, assets and available credit. It then evaluates that profile against thousands of products from lenders and brokers. The result is a targeted and customized list of potentially available loan options.
Anyone can try the new home loans feature for free by visiting www.mint.com and clicking on “Find Savings”. Mint.com users can also access the feature in the “Ways to Save” portion of their account. If you’re not a Mint.com user, sign up at www.mint.com. It’s free and takes less than five minutes to set up an account.
About Mint.com
Mint.com is a leading online personal finance software service from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), providing almost 5 million users a fresh, easy and intelligent way to manage their money. And it’s free. Launched in September 2007, Mint.com has quickly grown to track nearly $200 billion in transactions and $50 billion in assets and has identified more than $300 million in potential savings for its users. Mint.com’s innovation is in applying advanced technology to deliver breakthrough ease-of-use. Using patent-pending technology and proprietary algorithms, Mint.com allows users to see all their financial accounts in one place, makes it easy to set and keep to budgets, and helps identify money saving ideas. Mint.com is so effective that more than 90 percent of users say they have changed their financial habits as a result of using the service. For more information on Mint.com's free online personal finance service, please visit http://www.mint.com and follow Mint.com on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mint.
About Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses; financial institutions, including banks and credit unions; consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants. Intuit Financial Services helps banks and credit unions grow by providing on-demand solutions and services that make it easier for consumers and businesses to manage their money.
Founded in 1983, Intuit had annual revenue of $3.5 billion in its fiscal year 2010. The company has approximately 7,700 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.
*The home loans feature of "Ways to Save" contains loan option advertisements published by Credit Sesame, Inc. for its participating lenders and mortgage brokers. Intuit Inc., Mint.com, and Credit Sesame are not responsible for any of the products and services offered by the lenders or brokers advertising on Mint.com and do not act as a mortgage broker or originator in publishing or displaying loan option advertisements to Mint.com users. No recommendation, endorsement, sponsorship or referral may be implied or inferred by Intuit Inc. or Mint in offering the home loans feature or displaying any loan option advertisements.